[PIAS] is a truly global company, with footholds across the globe from the UK to Spain, France, Australia, the USA and beyond.
Our German office was first opened in 1998, and over the past two decades has been instrumental in the success of artists such as Alt-J-, Editors, Eels, Interpol, Pixies and Placebo.
In recent years, [PIAS] Germany has had huge domestic and international success with breakouts such as Milky Chance, Agnes Obel and Soap&Skin – as well as taking Matt Simons to No.1 in its home territory.
Below, we ask their team all about their work – and why they love it…
Stefan Strüver, General Manager
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at [PIAS] Germany?
Thankfully there are a lot of ‘cool’ things happening in the [PIAS] world – but one night which always still makes me smile is when the whole German team was at the Rolling Stone Weekender a few years ago. One team member was at the side of the stage spotting the rest of the team in the audience.
As he wanted to join us he decided to take a short cut; he entered the stage while Wilco were playing and both Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline looked quite bemused when they spotted a new but unknown band member on stage. We of course all politeley apologized afterwards.
Oh and what was also rather cool was my meeting with Agnes Obel when we listened to the final master of her Debut album ‘Philharmonics in early 2010. When she asked me what I thought the album would sell I said: 50k maybe?
Agnes smiled and we ended up selling 10 times as much – so that was real cool!
* What does [PIAS] Germany mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
First and foremost its the brilliant team we are having at PIAS DE – but I also want to mention the great international colleagues in here as well which makes every day work still fun (for the most part, that is!).
It‘s great for us being part of a international company. I am most proud about artists we discover here and can exploit both domestically like Gisbert zu Knyphausen or Bohren & der Club of Gore and internationally like Agnes Obel, Soap&Skin, Milky Chance and Dillon (to name just a few).
But also having great success with signings by our beloved international colleagues like Matt Simons (which gave us our first Number 1 Single for more than two decades) and plenty of great album campaigns and successes still make us proud.
* What do you hope to achieve at [PIAS] Germany in the future?
See above – meaning signing more artists into our local as well as international setup and being successful with them as well as putting together great campaigs for our international releases and continuing making PIAS DE the best Indie Label in Germany.
Meetz, Head Of Promotion
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at [PIAS] Germany?
A million cool things really! Meeting so many great people and artists, seeing amazing shows and being part of such a great team means a lot of very cool moments!
Outstanding moments however were Mr. Oizo’s Flat Beat being No.1 in the German single charts for 8 weeks (and the accompanying weekly parties), Grace Jones’ TV performance (while she had a flu) and last but definitely not least my 20th anniversary with [PIAS] and especially the champagne reception in the new office in Brussels.
* What does [PIAS] Germany mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
I’m proud to be part of such a passionate team who are willing to work hard for our domestic and international artists and bands… of which some are my all-time favourite bands.
And I’m really proud if we as an indie record company can help our artists creating a proper success like Editors, Agnes Obel, Gisbert zu Knyphausen, Matt Simons and many others.
* What do you hope to achieve at [PIAS] Germany in the future?
I hope we will be able to keep up and improve the good teamwork and become an even more interesting label partner for exciting domestic bands for Germany as well as for the international roster. And to continue fighting for the strongest media support possible.
Thomas Sarkadi, Head of [PIAS] Cooperative, Germany
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at [PIAS] Germany?
The coolest thing definitely is having the opportunity to work with all my lovely, fantastic and inspiring artists and colleagues every single day!
But cool stuff happens all the time really: Last week I got to know about an upcoming album of an artist I am super excited about (and you´ll be too soon, promise!), this week we will present a gold award on more than 200k sales to Flume, with whom I proudly work since 2011- and next week? I´m sure the coolest thing is just about to happen!
* What does [PIAS] Germany mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
I´m incredibly proud to be part in a truly independent company, working at a record company that puts out life changing music, which has been part of my life ever since I bought my first records as a teen- it always feels like home!
* What do you hope to achieve at [PIAS] Germany in the future?
To successfully continue to present, support and boost brilliant artists in an always changing, challenging and demanding market the future will bring!
Janik Haverkamp, Head Of Marketing
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at [PIAS] Germany?
The most memorable experience during my last 4 ½ years at [PIAS] was probably working on Milky Chance‘ debut album back in 2013. What started as a DIY project in the very best sense, ended up becoming a global break through, followed by multiple gold and platinum awards. This truly unique success story and the fact that we all have made our contribution, makes me humbly looking back and smile. So yea, kinda cool thing.
* What does [PIAS] Germany mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
First and foremost I am lucky to work in a great team, with great people, totally dedicated about their job and what they are doing to give our artists and great music the best possible home. I love that.
* What do you hope to achieve at [PIAS] Germany in the future?
Developing our domestic repertoire is definitely one thing I am looking very much foward to. We’ve seen [PIAS] Germany bringing up great artists in the past and present and I am excited about continuing this path in the future.
Jens Koermer, Digital Sales & Marketing Manager
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at [PIAS] Germany?
There is not one particular event which peaks out but setting up and working on a campaign which connects to old and new fans is always a pleasure. Especially when the artist/mngt digs your ideas and supports them.
Oh… one special moment was when Matt Simons, after reaching #1 in the Single & Radio Charts, went on stage at the German radio awards in front of a huge crowd of music biz people wearing a [PIAS]T-shirt!
* What does [PIAS] Germany mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
The most important thing for me is the team. A lovely bunch of people with different tastes in music but all strongly connected to the vision of “artist first”.
* What do you hope to achieve at [PIAS] Germany in the future?
Working everyday on building a substantial service and support for our artist which helps them to fulfill their dreams in a constantly changing and sometimes overwhelming digital world.